Pollution may be a cause of autism

20/06/2013

Autism has been a brain disorder that many scientists have sought to explain but, now, a group of U.S. researchers have attributed this disease to high levels of contamination.

Pregnant women exposed to air pollution in the United States are twice as likely to give birth to a child with autism compared to those living in areas with less pollution, says the study.

The research, conducted by experts at Harvard University and published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, examined data from a survey of more than 116 000, which began in 1989, and stated that the increase in pollution in the world’s largest cities bring new cases and types of this disease. According to the results of the study, exposure to a polluted atmosphere during pregnancy increases the risk of child having autism.
Pregnant women exposed to contamination
air in the United States are twice as likely
giving birth to a child with autism compared to that
live in areas with less pollution.
“Our study is the first national level (with data from the 50 U.S. states) that analyzes the environmental pollution during pregnancy and the risk of autism. There have been two previous studies that suggested a link, but they were done in local areas, “said Andrea Lynne Roberts, School of Public Health Harvard University (HSPH), the Spanish daily El Mundo.

To set the exposure to pollutants during pregnancy, scientists used data from air pollution in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, adjusted for factors such as income, education and smoking during infancy.

“Our research is worrying because it shows that, depending on the type of pollutant, of 20-60{3effe4377b6f02be2524d084f7d03914ac32a2b62c0a056ca3444e58c1f10d0b} of women who participated in the study lived in areas where the risk of autism was higher,” said Roberts.

The researchers followed 325 women who had a child with autism and other 22 000 whose children do not suffer from this disorder. They then examined the levels of pollutants in the air at the time and place of birth, based on data from the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States. (EPA).
It is known that diesel particulates, lead,
manganese, mercury, methylene chloride and other contaminants
affect the child’s brain function.
Pregnant women living in areas where the concentration of diesel particles and mercury in the air were older, had twice the risk of having a child with autism than those living in less contaminated by these substances, they concluded.

On the other hand, found that women during pregnancy living in areas where levels of lead chloride, manganese chloride in the air altostenían were 50{3effe4377b6f02be2524d084f7d03914ac32a2b62c0a056ca3444e58c1f10d0b} more likely to have an autistic son that living a less exposed these contaminants.

Recall that autism is a spectrum of disorders characterized by severe developmental deficit, permanent and profound. It affects socialization, communication, imagination, planning and emotional reciprocity, and repetitive behaviors or unusual evidence. The inability of social interaction and isolation are some of the symptoms.